ARABELLA POVThat nurse was not the culprit. I knew this deep within me. There was no way Susan would have pulled it off with Mia. She was too nice, too cool, too morale to do that. How had they pinned it on her just because another nurse said she was the one? To me, that particular nurse was the prime suspect. Jack had done his best, really, but it was only so much he could take. I could see the exhaustion in his eyes; he probably wanted to be home and done with all this bullshit. “Dr. Emma, can you hear us?”My attention reverted to Rhys. We were standing in front of the hospital once again, the townsfolk and the people gathered to hear us out. When he’d come for me that morning, I had silently followed with no opposition, thinking it would end badly. Who knew we’d be talking about discovering the culprit instead of deciding my sentence?“Yes, I can hear you,” I said solemnly. “We’re deeply sorry for everything,” Rhys continued. “We shouldn’t have been consumed by our anger and ca
ARABELLA POV I gripped Lily’s hands and held it to my chest. “How have you been? Did anyone torture you in my absence?” She laughed and waved me away. “You’re so unserious. Nothing like that happened. Just a few weird things but I’m fine.” “Lily.” “What? I’m only sorry that I didn’t get to visit you. I was kind of occupied with several things.” “Don’t worry about it, Lily. I’m out and fine now, so there’s no need to mop around looking like that.” She smiled at me, but it was odd. She looked too quiet and calm about the whole thing. The Lily I know would have asked me tons of questions. The Lily I know would have visited the hospital grounds and marveled at my release. Something was definitely up with her, but I didn’t want to pressure her. She’ll surely tell me with time if she wants to. Lily smiled again and touched the side of her hair. “Uhm… have you spoken to Rhys since he released you?” Was this what was bothering her? “I haven’t spoken to him yet,” I answered. “I don’t w
ARABELLA POV “Wait, wait, wait…” I said urgently. My brain needed to catch up with what he was saying. “Tell Alpha Rhys? Why do you have to tell him anything?” Simon’s breathing sounded harsh on the phone like he was running somewhere. It sounded like he called me while he was in the middle of an urgent task. “What are you doing, Simon?” I asked. “I’m halfway to the palace. I’m going to meet the Alpha—” “Are you crazy? Stop right there!” He stopped, stunned at the commanding sound of my voice. “It’s stupid to just barge in there with your claims,” I said to him, trying to control my rising heartbeat. “You only have the information, not the evidence. Besides, even if you only have the information, how sure are you that it’s true?” Simon kept quiet, his breathing reducing to a steady rhythm. I dropped the glass of water in my hand lest I broke it into shards. “Listen, Simon, I know you’re desperate and you want to clear your name—” “It’s more than that,” Simon interrupted. “He
ARABELLA POVWe looked at each other for long moments. Jack must have seen the disappointed look on my face because he immediately rushed to cover his sentences.“That’s not what I mean… I’m sorry, that just came out of my mouth. I shouldn’t have said that at all.”I shook my head and signaled that he stopped talking. It wasn’t his fault, nor was it Lily’s. Everyone who knew about my history with Rhys always threw the bomb of me loving him again, which truly hurts. But then again, they could have had little fate in me.“So how do you want to do this?’ Jack asked urgently. “You need my help, right? What do you need me to do?”I shook my head at him. “You don’t have to help if you’re not interested in it.”“Arabella, I shouldn’t have said that. I’m truly sorry, honestly. I’m just worried for you.”“That’s why I said you should not bother.”He came around the table and stood next to me. “There’s no way I won’t be worried or bothered when it comes to you, Arabella. Just tell me what the p
ARABELLA POV I gripped Jack’s shoulder, wanting to offer him comfort but not sure where his problem was coming from. He groaned as he pressed his knee to the ground, his hand tightening around his neck. I would have said he was the one choking himself if I didn’t see the tiny veins making its way to his chin from his neck.“How do you feel?” I asked in a full blown panic. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. Do something, please.”“My wolf… my wolf is caged and restless,” he managed to say.I peered at him carefully this time. his body twitched this way and that way occasionally, as if his wolf was struggling to get out but the witch’s power was holding him back.“Do something…” I muttered, tears clouding my eyes.“I can’t…” he whispered.Soon we heard chanting. I turned and saw the wolf approaching us, her hand filled with what looked like black sand as she chanted her incantations. Her whole focus was on Jack;’ I suppose as an Alpha he was more of a threat to her than I was.“Stop it!” I y
RHYS POVArabella looked shocked. I mean, I was shocked too, but the way she looked was abnormal. It was almost like she didn’t want any of us to be there. The doctor looked at me, and then to her, scared that we might be in shock.“We need a blood transfusion,” he repeated. “Dr. Emma, you can do a cross examination on the kid and make your own analysis, if you want?”Arabella nodded several times and patted the arms of the doctor. “Thank you, Daniel. Just give me your tab and let me take over. You probably have other patients to attend to.”The doctor smiled patronizingly. “I know this one might be family, so I would not recommend—”“You can clearly see that it’s the Alpha son and that I came here with him. Let me take over from where you stopped, Daniel.”The doctor looked at me and then handed his tab to her. I was left in a confused state, seeing the interactions before me but not completely understanding it. All I thought of was why my son would need a blood transfusion. Had Mia
ARABELLA POV What annoyed me wasn’t that Rhys discovered I was Arabella a long time ago and kept it a secret, but that he thought I was lying because I wanted him to get rid of Mia. Of all things, it was the wildest thing I’d heard—and the most annoying too.He thought I was a silly girl who’d come back to this pack just for him to abandon Mia and focus on me. I would have cried in frustration, but laughter erupted out of me, surprising the both of us. He was quite taken aback by the burst of laughter, and so were a few passersby. His anger had attracted them, but my laughter kept them.He moved back a little, twitching his lips as he continued to watch me. When my laughter reduced to a light chuckle, the people around decided it was nothing and decided to move on. I hummed when the last of my frustration was gone with the laughter.“Are you done now?” Rhys asked, a bit frustrated.“No, I’m just getting started,” I replied. “First of all, I don’t want you nor do I want you to leave
RHYS POVI’ve never been so disappointed and pained in my entire life. The pain I felt came with deep seated shame and embarrassment. I was embarrassed for a lot of things—firstly the fact that it was Arabella who helped me to uncover this secret. Now I don’t particularly feel grateful to her; she could have her own scheme after all. If she was able to come back to this pack and uncover this secret all alone, it really put me to shame for someone who’d been living with Mia for years.What was she thinking?No, what were they thinking? The both of them… Mia and Craig. My wife and my beta. No matter how I think about it, it made me wild and mad with fury. It wasn’t necessarily a matter of love, but betrayal. For someone who was so controlling about the kind of women that came around me, she really had the tenacity to cheat on me for years. Years, and no less with my Beta.I laughed. It was a slow, bitter laugh. I felt the tears gather around my eyes long after they were gone. I stood o